Week #7 Response

Response to Gina Kim’s Question #1

In her blog, Gina Kim discusses the issue of belief that Woodward and Denton discuss in the beginning of chapter 6. She describes that Woodward and Denton define a belief as something we know to be true or false, and that most people would agree with this statement. As Woodward and Denton continue, however, they say that one belief will not always hold true forever. The more we learn about a certain subject, the more we may change our beliefs about it. Gina poses the question then if more knowledge is the cause of this. What is the real reason that we change our beliefs? I would say it is because of a growth of knowledge. By learning more about things, it is impossible for your perceptions to not change.

As Woodward and Denton put it, “Life events may greatly influence the ordering or reordering of beliefs relevant to an issue,” (Woodward and Denton, 135). And I would agree. In relationship to Gina’s question, life events are knowledge that will sway belief. One of the best places to see this is in college. There are beliefs that my parents held and while living at home I “believed” the same thing. Then when I came to college and interacted with people different than my friends and family at home, I got to experience new things and some of my beliefs were changed. This experience happens to many college students, and is why most college students “change” once they leave home.

I think one important thing to point out, however, is that beliefs can also be reaffirmed this way. Knowledge does not always mean a positive change, but negative changes as well. For example, if I person believed that a certain neighborhood was dangerous and was mugged in that same neighborhood, their beliefs would just be reaffirmed. This new “knowledge” that they received from that neighborhood has made them change their beliefs most likely to think that they neighborhood is even more dangerous than once before.

Beliefs can be a very sensitive subject for many because it is what many would describe as their core. As Woodward and Denton describe, “Deeply held beliefs become core values,” (Woodward and Denton, 133). And while many profess that they are not willing to change their core values for anything or anyone, I believe that is impossible. While there many not be some large transformation, as they live and learn, their priorities will begin to change and some beliefs will become less important than others. Everyday as we live our lives we are changing our beliefs, and to me, that is a healthy way to live.